Pender accused of choking woman, dragging her by hair

Florida State University running back Mario Pender was arrested Saturday after police say he dragged his girlfriend by her hair and choked her.

The 22-year-old, who was dismissed from the team Saturday evening, faces charges of domestic battery by strangulation and resisting an officer without violence.

A Tallahassee Police Department report released early Sunday morning said the incident occurred during an argument on Sharkey Street, a little more than a half mile south of Doak Campbell Stadium.

A 911 caller told dispatchers about 9:50 a.m. that a man and a woman had been arguing in the front yard. The two then started walking down the street. At one point, the man dragged the woman by the hair about 50 feet to the house. The caller told dispatchers similar incidents involving the two had occurred before.

The first TPD officer on the scene heard a woman screaming inside the one-story home and a man yelling at her. Court documents said the officer pushed the front door open and found Pender straddling the woman with his hands around her neck.

The officer then pointed their gun at Pender and commanded him to get off the woman and lie on the ground. Pender, court documents said, told the officer the two were "just wrestling." He got off the woman and was handcuffed.

The woman, who is the mother of Pender's 1-year-old child, told the officers the two were in the process of ending their 10-year relationship. She was disheveled and injured. The officer said she had scratches to her left temple and chest, a bruised right eye and several scratches and marks on her neck. Pender's shirt was torn and he had a cut on his lip, court documents said.

The woman told police she and Pender were arguing before officers arrived and he grabbed her by the throat. She said Pender did not mean to injure her, but he accidentally scratched her temple. The bruise on her eye, she said, was caused by her child. She provided a sworn statement but refused to have her injuries photographed by officers.

Pender initially said he would not get in the police car "until a supervisor and (FSU head coach) Jimbo Fisher responded to the scene," court documents said. FSU officials on Monday said neither Fisher nor any other althetic department member never went to the scene. Pender eventually got into the car and was taken to the Leon County Jail.

Pender remained in jail as of Sunday morning, when his first appearance court hearing was scheduled. Bond is set at $1,000.

Shortly after news of Pender's arrest was made public Saturday evening, FSU issued a statement dismissing Pender from the team.

"Mario Pender has been permanently dismissed from the football team following his arrest earlier in the day," the school said. "The Athletics Department will have no further comment at this time."

This isn't the first run-in with TPD for Pender, a redshirt senior from Cape Coral.

A beef between Pender and former FSU offensive lineman Ira Denson resulted in Pender's half-brother getting shot in the head just two weeks before the Seminoles won the 2013 National Championship.

Pender had stolen Denson's shoes as collateral for Denson using Pender's debit card, court documents said. That resulted in a shooting on Dec. 22, 2013 at Pender's Pullen Road apartment. Pender was not charged in that incident. Denson, who would never rejoin the team, later pleaded no contest to charges of accessory after the fact, petty theft and fraudulent use of a credit card. He was sentenced to five years of probation.

Tarron Addison, the man accused of pulling the trigger, is serving at least 13 years in prison. He pleaded no contest to charges of attempted murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.